# BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

## Overview

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| **Source** | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) |
| **URL** | https://www.bls.gov/lau/tables.htm#mcounty |
| **Unit of observation** | County-year |
| **Geographic coverage** | All U.S. counties |
| **Time coverage** | 2020-2024 (annual averages) |

## Files

| File | Year | Format |
|------|------|--------|
| `laucnty20.xlsx` | 2020 | Excel |
| `laucnty21.xlsx` | 2021 | Excel |
| `laucnty22.xlsx` | 2022 | Excel |
| `laucnty23.xlsx` | 2023 | Excel |
| `laucnty23.txt` | 2023 | Text |
| `laucnty24.xlsx` | 2024 | Excel |

## Key Variables

| Variable | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| LAUS Code | BLS area code |
| State FIPS | State FIPS code |
| County FIPS | County FIPS code |
| County Name | County name and state |
| Year | Data year |
| Labor Force | Total civilian labor force |
| Employed | Number employed |
| Unemployed | Number unemployed |
| Unemployment Rate | Unemployment rate (%) |

## Processing

Processed by `R/covariates/unemployment.R`

**Derived variables:**
- `force` - Labor force
- `emp` - Employment
- `unemp` - Unemployment count
- `urate` - Unemployment rate
- `force_ln` - Log of labor force

Output: `data/inter/emp_county_processed.csv`

## Notes

- Annual average data (not seasonally adjusted)
- Some small counties may have estimates based on modeling
- FIPS codes standardized to 5-digit format

